avrakas Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 I must not be using the search tool correctly, bc there must be dozens if not hundreds of posts on this already but I just can't find them - so point me to old discussions if you know where they are. I've been using an HX Stomp for a few years and its great. Built/bought/borrowed some nice patches for my electric guitar. I also play mandolin and have a patch for that and it sounds pretty nice, pretty true acoustic: Studio Tube Pre > IR (Mart 45 piezo)>LA Studio Comp>Slight Plate Reverb. I have no idea if that is legit setup or signal path for acoustic input, but it sounds good. THE PROBLEM: I am starting to play a couple songs in the set on my Taylor Acoustic guitar, and it just doesn't sound that great through the Stomp. And it sounds soooo good in real life. (Taylor 810 with a K&K Pure Western pickup.) So what am I missing, or what am I looking for here? Who can tell me how that pickup is different from the K&K Mandolin Twin, or what else I should be considering to get a better acoustic sound? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverhead Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 Well, the overall setup is very similar to what I use. You could try using a Taylor IR- there are probably some fee ones floating around. Add an EQ block and fiddle about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmalle Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 On 2/14/2025 at 8:09 PM, avrakas said: THE PROBLEM: I am starting to play a couple songs in the set on my Taylor Acoustic guitar, and it just doesn't sound that great through the Stomp. And it sounds soooo good in real life. (Taylor 810 with a K&K Pure Western pickup.) When you say "it sounds soooo good in real life" - do you mean acoustically? Or does it sound great through a mixer but not through the Stomp? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwandering Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 I will note that for my setup, I have acoustic guitar through a similar type of preset. I route the left channel to my guitar cab, and the right-channel to the PA. The cab acts as a monitor for me -- and doesn't sound great -- but the PA does sound like I expect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avrakas Posted February 14 Author Share Posted February 14 Thanks for the feedback. When I say good in real life I do mean acoustically. Would love to have more of that come through. As for monitoring, the split to the guitar cab is a great idea but we use IEMs, so I dont have to worry about that as Im hearing my usual in ear mix. But no one has said my block layout is deeply flawed so that is encouraging. I;ll try some other IRs and see if I can perhaps dial in a better eq as well. I think/thought the K&K pickup was pretty decent for this type of dreadnaught body so hopefully it is. Please chime in if you have other signal chain suggestions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craiganderton Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 A few ideas... Acoustically, there's a huge amount of interaction with a room, which acts as a filter. It will emphasize certain frequencies that Stomp won't emphasize on its own. So, carefully analyze the frequency response you hear acoustically that you like, and try to nail those same characteristics with the parametric EQ. A room also acts like a complex delay line that's heavy on the early reflections. Of course, a live venue will add its own reflections, but it may be that some very short delays (e.g., the ambience block) would supplement the reflections that the venue is adding. Because of this interaction with your room environment, when you move your head even the slightest bit you're experiencing stereo phase and level changes. It's hard to fake this with a guitar processor but subtle chorusing at a very slow speed can help the guitar seem more "alive." Some pickups have resonances that bring out weird midrange frequencies. Frankly the notch response on the Helix parametric isn't that great, but try creating as narrow a midrange notch as possible, and sweep it slowly in the midrange to see if that helps even out the sound more. Good luck! Hope this helps. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avrakas Posted February 15 Author Share Posted February 15 It does help, thank you. I took a bit of everyone's advice and started over. I think its better - at least in the headphones. Ill have to test in the mix of course. Craig you make some good points about the room tone etc. I know its not going to sound like my practice room, but I like the approach and did add a midrange notch (not very narrow tho). @ silverhead, I also found a Taylor 814 IR online Placater Clean Pre-Amp (with not a lot of drive) > Simple EQ (remove a bit of Low and Mid gain) > IR Taylor 814 SM57 > 10 Band EQ, notched at 1K We'll see if my bass player still says it sounds like crap! He's hard to please :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmalle Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 On 2/15/2025 at 3:42 AM, craiganderton said: [...] Because of this interaction with your room environment, when you move your head even the slightest bit you're experiencing stereo phase and level changes. It's hard to fake this with a guitar processor but subtle chorusing at a very slow speed can help the guitar seem more "alive." [...] The Dynamic Reverbs in Helix do this btw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avrakas Posted February 15 Author Share Posted February 15 On 2/15/2025 at 2:31 AM, Schmalle said: The Dynamic Reverbs in Helix do this btw. OH, that was a great suggestion! I never use those but the dynamic room with very short delay really does make it sound more natural. Our mix is stereo to FOH so this may work well. Eager to try it out. For some songs the acoustic just adds a lot and my PRS electric really just sounds meh with the acoustic sims. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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